High-concentration nicotine liquid sold without safety standards, lawmaker warns

High-concentration nicotine liquid — a substance that has been used in murders — is being sold without any dedicated regulatory standards, a lawmaker warned Monday.

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Ahn Ho-young raised the issue at a national audit of the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment on Monday, saying the ministry, as the lead agency for chemical substances, must establish standards for managing nicotine concentration.

Ahn presented two bottles of 5% nicotine liquid that his staff had purchased from an e-cigarette store, warning that "one 30-milliliter bottle contains 25 times the lethal dose for an adult."

The known lethal dose of nicotine for an adult is 60 milligrams, an amount found in just 1.2 milliliters of a 5% solution.

The same store also sold 99% pure nicotine concentrate. A notice posted in the store warned that the concentrate could be used for "murder or suicide."

In practice, the National Forensic Service recorded 71 nicotine poisoning deaths in the greater Seoul area between 2014 and 2021, and murders involving nicotine concentrate occurred in both 2016 and 2017.

In 2015, the Ministry of Environment required businesses to obtain a permit under the Chemical Substances Control Act before selling e-cigarette liquid with a nicotine content above 2%, citing concerns about consumer exposure to high concentrations.

At the time, the ministry said it was desirable to restrict the retail distribution of mixtures exceeding 2% for tobacco use. A revision to the ministry's public notice in May removed that 2% threshold, however, on the grounds that it duplicated regulation already covered under the Tobacco Business Act.

According to documents obtained by Ahn's office, neither the Ministry of Economy and Finance, which oversees the Tobacco Business Act, nor the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which manages tobacco harm reduction, has set any nicotine concentration standard — and neither is considering introducing one.

"There was no overlapping standard to begin with, yet the standard was removed on the grounds of duplication," Ahn said. "The fact that something is called tobacco does not mean nicotine stops being a chemical substance."

"Nicotine is a hazardous chemical substance designated by the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, and the ministry managed it until May of this year," he said. "Whether it is in tobacco or not, a chemical substance like nicotine should be regulated — including its concentration — by the ministry as the lead agency under the Chemical Substances Control Act."

In response, Minister Kim Sung-hwan said there must be no situation where gaps in inter-agency responsibility create blind spots that endanger public health, adding that the ministry would take responsibility for its part through inter-agency consultations.